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In this episode, Donn and Kaushik talk to John Rodriguez (jrod) about the Paparazzi library which allows you to perform UI screenshot testing on Android without emulators or physical devices.

They talk to John about what screenshot testing is, why it’s important, advantages and it’s disadvantages as well. You’ll learn how to use Paparazzi and how it can test various different screen configurations without having to run an emulator. You read that correct … without an emulator.

If you’re looking to incorporate screenshot testing into your app, this is the episode for you.

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In this episode Donn and Kaushik talk about frustration, finding “flow state” and how it’s known as “the madness” and how to deal with it.

We originally were going to talk about an other topic, but during the off air banter Donn brought up how he was frustrated with losing/burning so much time on a task that he had for his side project. He only meant to spend a little bit of time on it and then spent WAY more time than he meant to. He got to the point where he had to stop working on the project, yell at himself for not time boxing it and then he had to refocus. This piqued Kaushik’s interest and they decided to hit record to talk about this topic as its something they both deal with and have also hear many other developers deal with too. 

The “Madness” is when you get consumed by your work and you’re so passionate that you lose track of time, eating and more. You’ve become consumed … you have “The Madness”. This happens to all developers, and Donn and Kaushik talk about how to not let this derail your day when you have other responsibilities as well as life and work. We hope you enjoy today’s off the cuff developer discussion.

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In this episode, Donn and Kaushik talk to Android GDE Vinay Gaba about learning Jetpack Compose.

They talk about how to learn how to use Jetpack Compose by example (and Vinay’s excellent talk by the same name). How to use Jetpackcompose.app to help you find the right Jetpack Compose component and how to use ShowKase to organize discover and visualize your Jetpack Compose Elements. 

We then dive into why someone might want to learn Jetpack Compose and how to start learning it. They touch briefly on the parts of Compose, such as the compiler, runtime, UI, foundation, and more. They wrap up by talking about Unidirectional State flow and by answering the hot question … “Is Jetpack Compose ready for production?” 

If you’re looking to learn more about Jetpack Compose, this is an episode for you. 

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In this episode Donn talks about that pit of the stomach feeling we all get when we feel like we should know something but we  don’t. It’s that voice in our head as developers that makes you feel like an idiot even when you’re not.

Donn gives examples of how even senior engineers are subject to this feeling and how they are often the ones to not speak up about it simply because of their experience level and seniority. 

This episode talks about why we get this feeling and how to combat it going forward. 

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In this episode, Kaushik peppers Donn with questions about his foray into Android Turbo, Hotwire, and the concept of “Native Where You Need It”.

Donn recently launched Android Jumpstart, the Android client for the Jumpstart Rails trifecta. Jumpstart Rails allow you to launch your SaaS business much faster than if you were to do it from the ground up.

The Android client for Jumpstart Rails builds on top of Turbo and Hotwire, two technologies that help power the Hey email client and Basecamp (the project management app). By using Turbo and Hotwire you’re able to get very fast response times and speed with “HTML Over the Wire” (aka Hotwire) with Websockets and much more. This allows your web app to be super fast and when packaged with Android Turbo, allows your web app to live within a native shell. HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean its simply a web wrapper. With Android Turbo you can specify which URL routes you’d like to be as native and which ones you’d like to remain web-based. This means you can choose to use Native when you need it, and delegate back to the web for everything else.

This is the solo founder, indie-hacker, and startup SaaS dream come true. You can come to market faster, iterate with a smaller team and get native benefits when and where you need it, all while also allowing your application to be flexible in a web manner.

If you’re thinking about building a SaaS app that needs a web presence, Android and iOS presence but want fully native experiences in certain areas then this will be the episode for you.

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In this episode Donn and Kaushik talk to Konstantin Liakhovskii about Expo development and how it takes cross platform development and its productivity to the next level. 

Konstantin dives deep into the usages and reasons why Expo (and React Native) are still very good options for companies that are looking to adopt a cross-platform application. 

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In this episode Donn sits down and talks to Ephraim Schmitt about how he changed careers from being an exotic car salesman to a mobile software developer. It’s a fascinating and inspiring story for anyone looking to get into software development. 

We talk about the mental and financial struggles, how he learned to start coding, how you can find opportunities everywhere, how to interview better, where to look for positions when you’re just starting out, why volunteering/doing something for free early on is fast way to open doors and build your network and so much more.

If you or anyone you know is looking to break into the software industry, this is the podcast for you. You’ll leave with a couple  pages of notes, tips and the inspiration you need to jump into the world of software development.

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In this episode Donn and Kaushik are back together on the mic. After an extended break, they both returned renewed and ready to dive into all things software, starting off with IDE themes, plugins and what they’ve been up to since they were last on the show together.

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In this episode Donn talks about something not giving up and persevering when the going gets tough in software, your career and more. It’s easy to give up, but the real reward is when you persevere.

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In this episode, Donn and Kaushik talk about some of the books that they’re reading and thoughts and recommendations on each.